"Very surreal and very unnerving little piece of public access gold focused on a stoop sale as performance art in Denton, Texas, around 2001. My friend texted me the link and said "If you have five minutes, check this out," and I ended up watching all 30 minutes of it.
Shot on a handheld video camera, vérité style, it documents unsuspecting customers finding themselves at a stoop sale in which nothing is labeled with a price and a strange figure, the Pricemaster, dictates outrageous prices for everything when inquired. "Five... HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS!" The Pricemaster may or may not be a human being in an elaborate costume; they may also be an very elaborate marionette; they may also be the living embodiment of neo-liberalism. Take your pick.
What makes this video special is the reactions people have to this masked dictator of commerce. Some people just walk away grumbling, realizing this is a dumb joke when they're told to pay "Forty...THOUSAND DOLLARS!" for a tiny, portable TV. Others laugh and lean into it, recognizing the humor in the whole situation. And some people choose to engage and push back against the masked dictator. My favorite part is when a woman engages in a futile back-and-forth with the Pricemaster, offering five dollars for a bunch of junk. The Pricemaster naturally demands a small fortune. "But I really need this stuff!" says the woman, and yet we see all she's trying to buy is a box of dominoes and a single nunchuck. This is art."
i learned everything i know from KC
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